Chip Kelly reacts to Colin Simmons winning Freshman Player of the Year over Jeremiah Smith

In his first season as the offensive coordinator of the Ohio State Buckeyes, Chip Kelly has had one of the best receivers in the country in Jeremiah Smith. Despite that, he didn’t end up winning the Freshman Player of the Year honor, with it going to edge rusher Colin Simmons of the Texas Longhorns instead.

In the aftermath of that decision, Kelly shared his reaction to Simmons winning the honor from the Maxwell Football Club over Smith.

“I don’t think anything about [Jeremiah Smith] is underrated,” Chip Kelly said before being informed that Smith did not win Freshman Player of the Year.

“He wasn’t? They have that? He didn’t win it? Who won it? [Colin Simmons] Oh, the linebacker? He’s a good player,” Kelly said while shrugging.

Colin Simmons came to Texas as a five-star recruit in the Class of 2024, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He’s gone on to live up to that mark as a freshman this season, making 39 total tackles, 13 tackles for a loss, and 8.0 sacks for the season. He also had an interception and three forced fumbles.

“I didn’t have a vote,” Kelly added. “Kid’s a good player, though. I’m telling you, the kid from Texas is a good football player.”

Jeremiah Smith has been phenomenal this season too. From the wide receiver position, he has 63 receptions for 1,037 yards and 12 touchdowns. Smith also has a rushing touchdown on the season. That includes a massive two-touchdown game against Tennessee in the first round of the College Football Playoff.

While, for many fans, the season that Smith has had has stood out among freshmen, it is difficult to compare one position to another and both players have clearly been phenomenal.

Now, both Colin Simmons and Jeremiah Smith are going to continue to try and show off just how great they truly can be in the College Football Playoff. With a win in their respective quarterfinal games, the two would then face off in the semifinals.

Ryan Day hands over surprising answer on Jeremiah Smith’s overlooked attribute

While Jeremiah Smith is earning plenty of attention, his head coach Ryan Day does believe he has one key overlooked attribute.

“When you get up on him, you realize how big he is and how big he plays, and that will be something he’ll have to do in this game as well, play big, play strong, play powerful, and I think Brian [Hartline] has done a great job again this year with our receivers, and we’re going to need them all in this game, just like when we played them last time,” Day said.

“But certainly everybody’s involved in the pass game, in terms of the protection, Will [Howard] making the throws, but creating separation and making plays is what’s important. And our receivers have done that, and certainly Jeremiah has done that this year and we’ll need that again on the 1st.”

The next time Ohio State fans can see Jeremiah Smith in action is going to be in the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day against Oregon.